Rick Wakeman

This was a performance boiled down to basics; just a piano and a man who oozed charisma and talent. It’s easy to forget with all his ‘Grumpy Men’ antics that at his core, Wakeman remains one of the best keyboard players in the business and deserves respect, being (as he was) at the very apogee of Prog Rock and verged on being one of Bowie’s ‘Spider’s From Mars’. There were great anecdotes about his career, his numerous marriages and tales of touring. But the playing far out-shone any chit-chat. His fingers danced with a blend of ease and unadulterated joy across the ivories. Just superb.

Assembly Hall, Worthing, 10 December 2011

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